


Smallville Revelations: SEASON 1

by BlueJ993



Category: Smallville
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:35:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24805555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueJ993/pseuds/BlueJ993
Summary: We all know the story of how Lex and Clark become enemies, but what if we turned back the clock to Season 3, and changed a detail. Oh, the shenanigans that will ensue. Set in Season 3 of the main timeline.
Kudos: 5





	1. Grand Unveiling

**Prologue**

"Can it, Clark. No one's paying any attention." said Lois as she fell over her fiancé." "Yes, Miss Lane." responded the bumbling reporter Clark Kent, the man who stole her heart over a nearly two-decade period. "That's so hot. Mm." Lois whispered to him, "But listen, this is serious. Do you have them?" she asked. "You mean these?" Clark replied, holding up two rings. "Yes. Are you ready?" she said, absolutely ecstatic at the hours away deadline of her long-awaited marriage. "I've been ready for seven years," he told her. "Somebody tell Perry White! It just came in over the wire! There's a bomb in an elevator uptown!" an unknown man exclaimed to the entire bullpen. "Just tell the minister I'm gonna be a few minutes late," said Clark as he sped off to the roof of the Daily Planet, flying off to handle the emergency.

We zoom out to see the screen of a flat-screen TV. A light-skin African American male with electric blue eyes, and hair of the same shade, fading to black further down, reclines in his chair, a satisfied look on his face. "Damn, that was great, no wonder it lasted ten years. Although I can't help but feel we can make that an even better ending," he said as he rose from his seat, his cloak moving with a mind of its own, draping itself over him. The man walks over to a lead case, a memento of a once good man. He unlocks it and takes out three stones. The stones combined to form a clear diamond, shaped in the familiar crest of a certain Kryptonian. A bright light shines with a loud *FWASSH* as a nerdy-looking reporter falls out of seemingly nowhere. "Huh… where am I?" he exclaims as he looks around and sees the man. "Yo," The man says. "Who are you," the disguised Kryptonian asks. "All in due time, Kal-El. Or do you prefer Mr. Kent, Clark?" Clark looked at the man in surprise, a tinge of horror mixed in on his face. "Uhm, Clark is fine…" he replied. The mystery man gave a warm smile, "Relax, I mean you no harm, but I did take the liberty of casing my place in Blue Kryptonite, didn't know how you'd respond to being yoinked into another dimension… again."

Clark looked on in confusion, staying silent. "Sit and allow me to enlighten you, my favorite Kryptonian. Questions are for after the explanation; I know you can be very curious. First off, as for who I am…" the man paused. "Well, I am known by many names: Electric Death, Black Merlin, The Bird of Ruin, but you, you may call me... Tiffany." the man said, silent for a few second before he burst into laughter, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA AAAAAAAA, oh, oh, I'm sorry, I couldn't resist, but in all seriousness, *ahem* my name is Blue J, the 993rd iteration, but you can call me Blue. I'm a God, essentially. Very, very powerful, more powerful than anything in the multiverse. As for where you are, you are in my pocket dimension. A place outside of space, time, and space-time, that bends to my will and any who I allow. But I have called you here for a purpose, Clark. I have brought you here to save someone." Clark stayed silent for a minute, then asked, "Who?" "Lex Luthor." Clark laughed bitterly.

"Lex is beyond saving...I should know," he says sadly. "Yes, you should. I mean, you did try to save him, but you gave up too soon, far too soon. Hell, look at Lionel, he started a devil, but he turned into quite the friend, didn't he?" Clark looked away. "Anyway, back to Lex, I want you to save him because I believe that with you two combined, you can make a near utopian world, a world safe for everyone." Clark looked stunned for a second. "No. I won't do it. Lex had his chance, and I'm not messing with time again! The last time it cost me, my father." "Your father," Blue said simultaneously. "I'm well aware, Clark, but rest assured this is a purely win proposition, I want to improve your world, but I can only do so if you agree." Clark sat there, silent. "Well, I figured you could use some convincing. That's why I brought in some very special people," Blue said as he clapped his hands twice, causing a white doorway to appear, and out walked Johnathan Kent, Tess Mercer, and Lionel Luthor. "D-Dad?" Clark asked, with tears in his eyes. "Hello, Clark," Jonathan said as he greeted his son with his warm smile. Blue walked up to Johnathan, "Mr. Kent, how are you?" the god asked. He looked at the god before responding, "Hi, I'm okay. But if you don't mind me asking, who are you?" "Ah, loaded question, to shorten it, I'll show you," Blue said as he offered his hand. "Shake my hand, and you'll know everything." As Jonathan does, his eyes go white, and from the back of his head, a white tendril shoots through the deceased. He releases Jonathan and all the dead look at him. "I uploaded the entirety of what happened from the moment of your deaths to now," Blue said, looking at Johnathan, an understanding nod between the two. " I'll give you two a moment," Blue said as he escorted the other two out of the living room.

"So what? You want us to convince him to save Lex?" Tess asked. "No, Ms. Mercer, I brought you here to watch. Because if all goes according to plan, Clark will agree, and we get to see how he does the second time around." A few minutes later, the two Kents walked out of the living room. "I'll do it," Clark says. "Awesome. Now to further the plan, I do have to erase your memories, to send you back." "Alright then, how do we-" Clark began to ask as he was suddenly swallowed in a white vertical stream and disappeared. "Like that, that's how we do it. Now, who wants to watch?" Blue asked his guests, making four recliner seats appear. "Folks, we are about to experience something that occurs very rarely in life, a second chance. So strap in because it'll be a wild ride."

**Episode 1: Grand Unveiling**

As Morgan Edge lay dying on the wheel of his car, a clean bullet hole decorated his newly reconstructed face. With his life now snuffed out, his foot slams on the gas, sending the car careening down the brick driveway towards a crouched Lex, frozen in fear, with nowhere to escape. Lex sees the vehicle approaching, his life flashes before his eyes. Yet strangely, he has a sense of comfort. Reflecting on his time in Smallville, Lex realized for the first time, he was happy. The car closes in faster and faster as Lex braced himself for impact. *CRASH* the sound of impact echoed throughout the estate. '…' "Huh?" said Lex, surprised that he wasn't a stain on the wall.

In front of him stood the enigma, his closest friend Clark Kent, with his shoulder lodged in the hood of the car. Clark began to stand up, seemingly unscathed. He then tossed the car back as if it were a can of soda. "C-Clark?" Lex gasped, understandably freaked out, "How did you do that? You tossed that car, like-like it was a toy?!" Clark remained silent as he began to turn around and look at Lex.

As Clark stands up, he looked over at Lex and sees that he is safe. Clark looks to Lex with a worried expression as he is relieved to have saved his friend. Clark realizes his fatal mistake but then reflects on how far Lex has come in the last couple of years and is overwhelmed with a feeling of regret. 'Ever since I saved Lex from the car crash three years ago, he's been a good friend, and his actions over the past two years have proven him to be very deserving of my trust. So much more so than his father. I wished this wasn't the way I wanted to introduce Lex to my world, I wish I could've explained this to him this out of choice, but it looks like that option has gone out the window.' He turns around and looks at Lex.

"Lex, I know you must have a million questions, and I will answer each-and-every one of them," Clark says. The young Kryptonian was suddenly interrupted by the sounds of approaching cars. He uses his enhanced sight to see black vans pulling up in the distance. "Just not here. It's too dangerous." Using his super-speed, he grabs Lex and speeds away to the caves. Lex looks around, confused and bewildered as he sees the drawings on the light brown cave walls: A man with two heads, one human, one snake, a man shooting fire from his eyes, multiple symbols, still unknown to him, but all too familiar. "We're in the caves? H-how? We were just at Edge's place," Lex stutters out, utterly baffled at what just happened, and he looks to the source of his confusion, "CLARK! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

"Lex," Clark says. "I need you to calm down, so I can explain."

"Oh yeah, sure, Clark, explain to me how you collided head-on with Morgan's car, and how one second, we're at Morgan's estate, and now we're in the caves."

"Well, Lex," says Clark as he takes a deep breath, "My name is Kal-El. I come from a planet called Krypton, and as far as I know, I am the only Kryptonian on Earth."

"Clark, you mean to tell me that… that you're not even human? You're what, some alien?" Lex says, thinking he's finally gone mad.

"Yes, Lex, I am. Due to my physiology, I was endowed with extraordinary abilities when I landed on Earth. My powers come from solar radiation. I have super strength, which is how I took the crash. I can run at super-speed, which is how I brought us here." Lex stares at him for about a few seconds and finally says, "Oh, and I suppose you can fly too, Clark?" in a sarcastic tone.

"Actually, no, but I do have heat vision and X-ray vision," said Clark as he then lit a pile of wood aflame with his heat vision.

"Jesus, Clark, I was kidding." sighed Lex in exasperation. Lex then began to realize something, "Wait, so all those times I faced certain death but was saved, you mean, that was you?"

"Yes, yes, it was," Clark said.

"I don't know how I can thank you, Clark, but I know words alone won't do. But wow, you have to tell me everything about yourself. The fact that aliens exist is fascinating." said Lex as he digested the information.

"So, what's it like having all these abilities, Clark? Or should I call you Kal now?" said Lex, having, at last, calmed down.

"Clark is fine, Lex. I'm still the same guy you hang out with, who helps you with anything you need. As for the powers, they're great and all, but despite these abilities, I would give anything to be normal," said Clark. "These abilities allow me to do incredible things, but they also hinder me from living as normal as I can."

Lex stares in shock, "But why would you want to be a normal man, Clark? People would kill for the power you have, Clark, to be able to do anything. Most would try to conquer the world and abuse that power for personal gain, but you Clark, you use your abilities to save people from calamity, to be a hero."

Clark sits in silence for a few minutes, digesting Lex's words. "Thank you, Lex. Is there anything else you want to know?" Lex thinks for a moment, "There is one more thing I'm quite curious about, the meteor rocks, do you know what they are?"

Clark pauses, 'Can I do this? Should I Lex everything? No Clark, you're in too deep now you can't second-guess yourself; plus, omitting information now will only make you seem shady,' Clark looks over to Lex, who has a mixed look of curiosity and awe. Clark then steels his resolve, "According to the data I gathered, with Dr. Swann's help, we discovered that the meteors are radioactive remnants from the planet Krypton, my home. We named those radioactive rocks, Kryptonite."

Lex sat against the cave wall, amazed, "Hold on, so we know that Kryptonite gives ordinary humans different abilities, but that raises the question, what does it do to you?"

Clark takes a breath, "Essentially, it's like an extremely potent and volatile poison. But I should tell you it comes in various colors, each with its unique effects. So far, I've only encountered two types of Kryptonite, Green, and Red. Green Kryptonite, the poisonous one, as you said, gives humans abilities, but when I'm around it, it makes me feel nauseous as if poison is pumping through my veins. Red Kryptonite doesn't affect humans, as far as I know, but when when I come into contact with it, it feels as if all my morals vanish, and I act on pure instinct alone, it's terrifying in all honesty."

Clark stands up and makes his way towards the exit. "Clark..." Lex says as he stands up, "I wanna thank you for being open and honest with me, I mean that sincerely." He continues sarcastically, "This may come as a shock to you, but being a Luthor doesn't get you many friends without ulterior motive." Lex and Clark smile at this. "You're a much-appreciated change of pace, Clark," Lex says as his voice cracks, and he embraces his best friend in a hug, as a tear shed from his eye.

"Thank you, Lex. It's a relief to know I can keep my secret safe with you. Now, let's go home. I'll run you to the mansion," Clark says as he tightens his grip and uses his super-speed, zooming through the woods as a blur, back to the Luthor mansion gates.

"Woah...hahaha!" Lex laughs, looking around the estate as he catches his breath. "That was awesome, Clark." Clark smiles at Lex, "I'll see you later, Lex, thank you for being there for me," he says as he speeds off, and Lex makes his way to the mansion, neither aware of the camera, no bigger than a computer chip, hidden on the gate's lock, capturing their whole conversation. We zoom out to see the video played on a computer screen, as a mysterious shadow watches from a penthouse, "Well, well, well," muses the shadow, "just who are you, really, Clark? And what else can you do?" The sinister shadow says as it chuckles menacingly.

A few minutes later, Lex walks into the study as his father stands up and walks towards him. "Lex? Are you okay? Where have you been?" Lionel asks his son. "I'm fine, dad. There's no need for doctors or any therapy. After all, I'm a Luthor. We're stronger than some island." Lionel chuckles smugly, "Yes, Lex, we are." Lionel hugs his son, but as soon as Lex is about to let go, Lionel injects him with a sedative, knocking him out.


	2. Whisper

**Chapter 2: Whisper**

Darkness. That's what Lex remembers before waking up in a padded room, restrained to a chair. Then a doctor walks in with a clipboard. "Hello, Lex," she says. "Where am I?" he asks. "You're at the Belle Reve Sanitarium. Given your recent mental episode and sudden recovery, your father thought it best to have you reside here for a little bit." "God damn it, Dad," Lex sighs. "Look, I understand you're doing your job, but please, I don't belong here. I'm fine," he says. She looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "Hmm. We'll be doing regular psychological evaluations for the next three weeks and determine how long you will be staying with us based on that." the doctor informs him. "Well, I guess I'll just have to go along with it and prove how well I am. I do have one request, however." "And what would that be?" "Relay this message to my father and the mansion staff: My friend, Clark Kent, will want to know where I am. If he asks, just tell him I'm on a business trip for the next three weeks. I don't want him to worry." "Alright, we should be able to do that." the doctor tells him, "Now, let's begin your first evaluation."

* * *

Over at the Kent Farm, Clark breaks the news that he told Lex his secret. "YOU DID WHAT?!" Jonathan Kent screamed at the top of his lungs, utterly shocked by what Clark said. Jonathan was fuming with frustration, as Martha was stunned from shock. "It's not like I had much choice in what I did. Lex saw me use my strength. Besides, he was going to be thrown into Belle Reve and get turned into a vegetable. I couldn't let that happen." "Clark, everything we've done was to protect you, and I understand that you want to start making your own decisions, but telling Lex Luthor you're secret? How do you know you can even trust him?" Jonathan remarks. "Dad, ever since I saved Lex from that car crash, he's done everything to be a supportive, trustworthy friend. And you taught me that it's essential to keep an open mind, but whenever the Luthors are involved, you always view them as a threat. Have you ever considered that maybe Lex knows the monster that his father is, and he wants to be a better person?" "No, son, I haven't considered that," Jonathan snaps. "Because just as you said, Lionel Luthor is a monster, and all he would be able to raise is an equally monstrous son!" Jonathan exclaimed, a silence filling the room as he storms out of the house. Martha looks towards her son, a look of deep thought on his face. Clark looks over to his mother, "Mom, what do you think?" She sighed, "Clark, I don't think this was such a good idea... I know you wanted to tell Lex, but you had to have at least thought about what would happen," Martha sighed as she walked after her husband. Clark sat there with a look of sadness on his face.

***A Few Months Later***

It was a crisp January morning as Clark walked down to the Luthor mansion. He buzzed the gate, asking Darius if he could come in. As Clark strolled down the hall and took a left into the main room, he saw Lex working diligently and decided to wait for a few minutes before clearing his throat. Lex looked up in slight surprise as a small smile adorned his face, "Clark, what are you doing here?" The billionaire said as he walked up to his friend, hugging him. "Well, Lex, I heard you were back in town. my mom's birthday is soon, and I thought of taking you with me to get her present and celebrate." Lex's smile grew at this, "I'd love to, Clark. Let me get the Porsche... Actually, how bout we race. I want to see if you're faster than my Porsche." Clark grew worried at this, "But Lex, what if someone sees us?" "Oh, don't worry, Clark, I sent a small drone ahead. No one's on the road, so it'll be just us." Clark, reassured by this, grinned in excitement. "You're on."

As Lex pulled out the gate, Clark walked out, "Ready?" Clark shouted. "Ready," Lex replied. The tension building with every second until Clark said, "GO!" Lex speeds off down the road, heading towards the Smallville Jewelers, Clark giving Lex the headstart. Lex looked to his side, assuming Clark was there but was surprised, not seeing him anywhere. Abruptly the farmboy appeared next to him, keeping pace, both of them smiling at each other, as Clark then zoomed past the Porsche, as Lex sat there, astounded. "Hm, that will never get old," Lex said to himself. When he arrived at the Jewelers, Clark was waiting with two coffees. He leaves the car and walks toward his friend, who handed him a coffee. "What took you so long? I was able to stop by the Talon and get us some coffee," Clark remarked. Lex merely snickered at this as they walked inside. Outside, a car pulls up to the curb. Nathan Masterson is in the passenger seat, driven by his father. "You sure about this?" Nate asks his dad. "If you just follow the plan, Nathan. Nobody will even know you're there," his father reassures him. Nathan nods as his father pulls a gun from the glove compartment. Mr. Masterson relays the plan with his son, "You smash, I grab, it's done. Do your thing, kid." Masterson puts the gun in his jacket and stuffs earplugs into his ears as Nathan gets out of the car.  
Inside the shop, Clark asked the clerk for any recommendations, who brought out a pair of earrings Martha had pondered about purchasing earlier. Seeing the price, Clark as for something less expensive. As the clerk pulled out the jewelry, it glowed a shade of green, making Clark feel nauseous. Lex took notice of this and came over to pay the clerk. Just then, the father-son duo entered the store. Mr. Masterson began shouting at everyone to get on the ground while everyone was down. Nathan puts the tips of his fingers against his throat on either side of his voice box. A crunching sound followed by a low rumbling as his voice box bounces up and down rapidly a few times. Then Nathan removes his fingers from his throat and emits a high-pitched piercing noise from his mouth. Everyone in the shop starts to scream and cover their ears as they collapse in pain. The counter holding the Kryptonite shatters, causing the jewelry to fly into the air just as Masterson pulls out his gun. As the jewels began to fall, Clark sprung into action. Using his super-speed, Clark shot two spurts of fire from his eyes.

One pair of blasts hit the hand of the armed man, forcing him to drop the gun, as he yelped in shock and slight pain. The other set of heat blasts hit a falling piece of Kryptonite jewelry, ricocheted, and hit Clark in the eyes, blinding himself as he screamed with a pained cry, "Ahhh! Ahhhh!" The clerk pulls a gun and aims at Masterson. "Not another step," he tells the masked thief. Masterson looks at Nathan, who fled from the store unnoticed. Some of the other customers leave the store as a crowd is starting to form outside. The Jeweler speaks again to Masterson, "Don't you move. The police are on their way. Lex, who had just recovered from the noise, came to Clark's aid, but not before getting a look at the two criminals. "Clark. Clark, are you ok?" "Lex, it's my eyes... I can't see." Lex looked horrified as he helped Clark into the car and rushed him to the farm to inform his parents. "Clark, I'll take you home so you can rest up. With any luck, you'll get better soon." said the concerned billionaire. "Thanks, Lex. I appreciate you doing this." "No problem, Clark, it's what friends are for," said Lex as he guided the blinded Kryptonian to his house. Lex walked into the house, calling for Martha, "Mr. and Mrs. Kent, are you here?" Martha walked down the stairs, "Oh hi, Lex, how are you? If you're looking for Jonathan, he's not here. He'll be out all day running errands." she said as she walked to greet him. "Ok, well, we have a problem with Clark," Lex said. Martha gave a confused, worried look as her gaze shifted over to her son. He was wearing sunglasses and moving around like he was in the dark. "Mrs. Kent, while confronting two crooks in the Jewelers, Clark was blinded. I didn't take him to the hospital because I didn't want to have another Helen Bryce situation." Lex said, recalling what occurred the last time a doctor found out about Clark. "Mrs. Kent, I know this is a difficult time, but please know I'll stay and help take care of Clark for however long it takes" "Thank you, Lex. I'll look after him while his sight returns."

Jonathan arrived at the house later that night. "Hey, I'm home-" he began before he saw Lex in the living room sitting next to Clark. "Uhm, Martha, why is Lex Luthor in our living room?" he asked. She gave him the abridged version of the morning's events. "So Clark's blind?" Jonathan questioned as he looked at his son with a sad look. Jonathan called Lex over to talk to them in private, "Lex, I appreciate what you've done for Clark, going to these lengths to protect his secret and take care of him. Look, I know I'm stubborn, but I'm also man enough to admit when I'm wrong. And I was wrong about you. You'll always have a place here." Jonathan said as he offered his hand to Lex, who looked at it with awe and admiration. "Thank you, Mr. Kent, you won't regret this," Lex said as he firmly grasped Jonathan's hand. "Now come with us. We need to take Clark to the hospital," Jonathan said, "And don't worry about the doctor. I have a way to make sure we don't have another Dr. Bryce." "Ok, Mr. Kent," Lex agreed, albeit a bit confused. The three took Clark to the truck and got him to the hospital, Lex sitting with Clark in the back. After diagnosis, they came back and sat Clark down on the couch.

"We have to do something, you two," Matha said. "Yeah, I know, sweetheart. But what? Clark's retinas were scarred by that heat burst. You saw the doctor. He was baffled." Jonathan replied. "He wasn't baffled, Jonathan, you handcuffed him, and Lex intimated him into silence." Matha retorted. "The last time we trusted a doctor, she sold his blood to Lionel Luthor." "Then we'll find someone we can trust," Martha answered. "We cannot risk that." Jonathan states. Martha looked to Lex for an answer. He shook his head in response, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Kent, but I can't bring Clark to even the closest of my doctors, as they're all paid by my father," Lex told her. "Clark has lost his sight. We may have to risk someone learning his secret," declared Martha. "Martha, this is not about Clark's secret. His powers have now done something that hurt him. And I think before we run out and just do something, we ought to think this whole thing through," Jonathan stated with a tone that left little for discussion. "Don't I get a vote?" asks Clark as he stands up. Jonathan walks over to his son, putting a hand on his shoulder, and spoke in a heartbroken voice, "Of course you do, Clark." "I think it may just be a question of time before I get better," Clark suggested. "Sweetheart, it could be permanent," Martha told him, downtrodden at the situation. "Then there's a lot of people who learn to live with disabilities every day. What's the worst that could happen, go to school and walk through a wall?" Clark joked in an attempt to be optimistic. Lex, Jonathan, and Martha looked at each other, then at Clark.

***SOMEBODY SAAAAVVVVEEE MEEEE***

Clark walks down the halls of Smallville High, wearing thick sunglasses, as Pete guided him. "Man, I still can't believe you told Lex Luthor of all people your secret. I mean, I'm being honest, I'm glad you told me first, but I still don't think it's such a good idea, Clark." Pete said. "Well, Pete, sometimes life will just hand you a big decision, and all it takes is a leap of faith." Pete shrugs as they continue to Clark's locker. "Everyone's staring, aren't they?" Clark guessed. "Uh, they're just digging your shades," Pete said, hoping to cheer up his friend. Clark smiles at this. They arrive at Clark's locker. "Hey, man, let me give you a hand," Pete says as he starts to work the combination lock. Here you go." Pete guides Clark's hand to the open locker. "If it helps, the guy who did this landed on my mom's court calendar. Somehow, I don't think Judge Ross is gonna be giving this Masterson guy any breaks." Pete says, seeking to provide some sort of condolence to Clark, who just smiled as he continues to take books from his locker.

Lana walks around the corner and sees Clark and Pete. "Clark. You're already back," she said. "Nothing quite that heroic. It's just a pit stop," Clark says, looking in her general direction. "Well, um, if you need anything, I'm here for you. Class notes, help writing your papers." Lana offers. Clark starts to turn back to his locker and drops the stack of books in his hands. Lana kneels to help him pick them up. When she hands him the stack, he takes them, accidentally resting his hand on top of hers. She continues, "One thing I learned from my accident is that you can't go through something like this alone." They both stand up. "Lana, just because I'm blind doesn't mean the issues between us have disappeared. This..." He touches his sunglasses. "...doesn't change anything," he told her. "I was just offering a helping hand, Clark. But I won't make that mistake again." Lana walks away.

Pete turns to Clark, "Man, whoever said absence makes the heart grow fonder, obviously hasn't met the two of you." Pete swings the locker door shut. The slam is deafening. He slides the combination lock back into place and spins the combination. To Clark, the actions seem to be coming out of a giant megaphone, as they're deafening. The booming noises cause Clark to wince, grabbing his ears. Suddenly, small, ordinary sounds like the footsteps of passing students and the zipping of a book bag become louder. Clark winces in pain, holding his head. Pete notices this, "Clark, what's the matter?" "Pete, did you hear that?" "Hear what?" Clark is ambushed by different sounds until he hears Chloe's voice say, "Hello?" "Chloe?" Clark says, surprised. Pete, looking around, confused, "She's not here, Clark." "Pete, I can hear her right now." Clark focuses on Chloe's conversation, "What do you want? I'm at school. This isn't the best place to talk. I'm done with this... No one can hear me. I can't believe you're calling me, especially after everything that's happened... Look, I told you before, my researching Clark days are over." Chloe walks down the stairs as Lionel Luthor speaks from the other end of the line. " Really? I have such a vivid memory of that young reporter, just eager to work for the Daily Planet as an opportunity I provided for her with only one requirement ." "Well, I gave you all the information I had, Mr. Luthor," Chloe told the malicious snake. "Look, you have to look at Clark Kent as a work in progress. Tell me it didn't arouse your journalistic instincts when you learned about Clark's blindness. Especially when the other people at the scene were treated with hearing-related traumas." "Look, you're gonna have to find someone else to connect the dots, Mr. Luthor, because I'm done with this." Chloe retorted. "Ah? What are you going to do then? You gonna go running back to Lex?" "I just might," Chloe answered. Lionel's tone grew stern and threatening at that notion. "My son may seem just fine, Ms. Sullivan, and his structure may look perfectly stable, but it can't take any pressure. I'm keeping Lex close to me at all times, so we will let Lex sit in his office sharpening pencils. If I were you, I'd reconsider that ludicrous course of action." Lionel pauses for a second to let the gravity of the threat sink in. "I expect a full report from you on Clark Kent, Miss Sullivan, by ..." Lionel's voice is cut off as the school bell rings. Clark gasps at the noise. "Ah! Ah!" Clark screamed. "Clark, what happened?" Pete asked concerningly. "Pete, there's something wrong. You have to get me home right away." Pete takes Clark's arm and leads him down the hallway full of students. Nathan, standing next to his locker, looks at Clark and Pete strangely as they pass by.

* * *

As Clark feels his way around the house, his father guiding him, asks about the sounds, "So these sounds, they ... they just hit you all at once?" So these sounds, they ... they just hit you all at once?" "It's like someone turned on a giant stereo full blast. Suddenly all the sounds were magnified." "Son, here's the couch." Clark sits on the couch. "Then they just went away. It was completely random." "Well, with your X-ray abilities and your heat vision, I'm not too sure how your senses are supposed to develop." "It might just have been a one-time thing, or maybe your body's trying to compensate for its lack of sight." Martha proposed. "I just hope it goes away. All the sounds, they were so loud. I didn't even know where they were coming from or what they were... then there was Chloe and Lionel." "What about them?" asked Martha, confused as to why one of Clark's oldest friends would be talking with Lionel Luthor of all people. "They must've been on the phone. They were talking about me. And I don't think it was the first time, either." As he says that, Lex enters the house. "Knock knock, anyone home?" "Oh, Lex, it's nice to see you," Matha said. Clark and Lex wince at this, Martha just realizing what she said, "Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie," Martha said as she apologized to her son. "Mr. Kent," Lex says as he and Jonathan shake hands. "Hey, Lex."  
"Well, uh, I have to go fill out some paperwork for Clark's principal," said Martha. "Yeah, that stuff's due tomorrow," her husband added as they leave the room to do their errands. Lex stood next to the couch for a moment, not making a sound. "So, are you getting any better?" asked the billionaire. "I really don't want to talk about my condition. Even when people don't mention it, I can hear the concern in their voices. But I've developed a new ability." said Clark. "Oh? And what's that?" "Super hearing." "That's great, Clark, that means you're strong. Even when you're faced with the biggest hurdles, you still manage to overcome them. You're quite the miracle." Lex said, encouraging his friend. Clark's expression turned serious, and he turned in Lex's direction. "When I was in school today, I overheard a conversation between Chloe and your father, it seems they've teamed up to investigate me, but Chloe got cold feet. Now Lionel has her under his thumb." Lex was shocked at this news, "You don't need to worry, Clark, I'll protect you all by any means necessary." "Thanks, Lex, that's really comforting coming from you." the farmboy responded. Lex sits on the couch next to Clark. "Also, your father doesn't precisely share our faith in your mental stability." "Well, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to disagree with you there, Clark. My father just offered me a job at Luthorcorp." "Lex, do you think that job offer's for real?" "Why, Clark? What do you know about this job?" "It's a sham. Your dad doesn't think you're better." Lex laughs at this, "So he thinks I'm just going to, uh, sit in my office and twiddle my thumbs?" "No, his exact words were 'sharpening pencils.' You need to be careful, Lex. I have a bad feeling about this." Lex takes a breath and nods slightly. "I will, Clark. Thanks for letting me know."

The next day, Clark turns his head to the rumble of a small buggy as Chloe pulls up to the loft. "Clark?" "Ah. Not so loud, Chloe, please," Clark responds. "Hi. Look, as much as I try and avoid unbearable cliches, if there's anything I can do, just ..." she says as she rests a hand on Clark's arm. "I'll manage," he quickly says, walking a few paces away from her. "You didn't come all the way out here to check out the blind guy," Clark states. "Actually, I'm on something of a mission. Have you seen Pete," Clark turns in towards Chloe's general direction, reacting to the word 'seen.' "Wow, Chloe, really?" he retorts. "Sorry. It's um... we were supposed to meet this morning and double-team on my Daily Planet column." "Oh, you mean the column Lionel Luthor helped you land?" Clark asked her. She looked at him, offended, "What's that supposed to mean?". "I may have lost my sight, but things are becoming much clearer now. Exactly how long have you and Lionel been looking into my life?" Chloe takes a long pause. "Since last spring. The day after Lex's wedding," she says quietly. "When you saw Lana and me together. Is that why you did this?" Chloe stays silent. "Your silence is deafening. What did you give him?" "Nothing. Nothing he didn't already know," Chloe states defensively. "Well, then what is he sharing with you?" Clark asks, starting to get angry. "Nothing. Believe it or not, Clark, I-I was just... I was trying to help you." Chloe tried to explain. "Oh, by spying on me?" he accused. "No, by just trying to understand why Lionel's so intrigued by you," she said, trying to explain herself. "And if the Torch got a few new computers and you made a name for yourself at the Daily Planet, that was fine too," he said, cutting her off. "For all the times you accused me of keeping secrets, how could you do this to me?!" Clark asked her. "I was... he just... he caught me when I was at one of my lowest, and I caved. I have been trying to get out of it ever since!" she yelled. "But when people like Lionel Luthor have you, they don't want to let go," she tells him as her eyes start to water. She looks away before continuing. "You know, Clark, I thought that you out of all people would understand making a stupid decision in a moment of weakness, but I guess I was wrong," she tells him. "No, Chloe, I do understand more than you know. But you crossed a line," Clark tells her. Chloe leaves, silently crying. Clark stands as he hears his life-long friend get into her car and start the engine.

Pete drives down the road of the Kent farm, looking for Clark. He finds him leaning against a fence. "Clark. Your parents were ready to start gluing your picture to milk cartons. How'd you get out here, anyhow?" "I walked. Turns out, I do know every inch of this farm." Clark says, hopping off the fence. Pete laughs at this. "I didn't mean to scare them, but I couldn't take all the noise." "Ah. So your mega-hearing thing's back." "And suddenly, I'm the ultimate eavesdropper." Clark turns his head slightly and hears the rattling sound of a noisy vehicle approaching. "Did someone follow you?" "No. Why?" The clanging gets louder, forcing Clark to cover his ears. "Clark!" The noise gets louder until Nathan drives up in a tow truck and gets out. "Ross! Get in the truck!" Nathan shouts. "Pete, what's going on?" Clark asks. Nathan touches his voice box, causing it to bounce again, and his lips quiver as the high-pitched screech shoots from his mouth. "Aaah!" they scream. Pete's car windows shatter as both of them fall to the ground, screaming and holding their ears. Nathan stops, grabbing Pete, forcing him to stand. "I said, get in the truck!" Clark holds onto the fence as he stands up. "Pete, who is that?" Nathan shoves Pete into the truck and gets in next to him. "Pete, what's going on? Talk to me!" Clark shouts, utterly confused. Nathan starts the truck and drives away loudly.

Sheriff Adams is questioning Jonathan and Martha at the Kent house when there's a knock at the door. Martha comes back into the dining room with Pete's mother, followed by another officer. "Abby?" Jonathan says, surprised to see her. "Judge Ross. You should be home in case there's a ransom demand." Sheriff Adams tells her. "They just called. I asked your deputy to bring me straight here." Abby tells her. "Is Pete all right?" Martha asks. "So far." Martha touches Abby's arm comfortingly, and Jonathan pulls out a seat at the table for Abby to sit. "Abby." he says as she sits down, "What do they want?" "Masterson's pretrial hearing is tomorrow. His attorney is going to make a motion to dismiss all charges. If I don't grant it, they're going to kill my son."She says as her voice shakes. Clark, who was in the loft, heard the whole conversation. "Oh, my gosh, Abby..." Martha exclaims.

Later that afternoon, there is a cacophony of deafening noises coming from the barn. Clark is in the loft, adjusting the antenna on the radio, as his parents walk in. Clark, frustrated with the radio, knocks it off the desk shattering it. "CLARK! DO YOU MIND TELLING US WHAT'S GOING ON IN HERE?" Jonathan yelled over the noise. "I'M TRYING TO FOCUS MY HEARING!" Clark shouts back. "I TAKE IT YOU'RE NOT HAVING MUCH LUCK!" Martha yells out loud before shutting off the tractor and saw. "If I don't get a handle on this, I can't save Pete. I overheard the kidnappers' threat from the loft. Help me." Clark pleads. "All right, let's get to work then." Jonathan guides Clark to the center of the room before leaning over and pulls the cord on the wood chipper, the engine sputtering to life. He goes to the wall and turns on the table saw as Martha powers up the tractor. She jogs to Clark's side and takes his hand, yelling to be heard over the racket. "LISTEN FOR YOUR FATHERS VOICE!" Clark nods. Jonathan stands across the room from Clark next to the table saw. He mouths the words: "Concentrate, Clark." But Clark can't hear him over the other sounds. "Concentrate on my voice." Clark turns his head, focusing his hearing on all the individual sounds: the grating blades in the wood chipper, the grinding of the table saw, the motor of the tractor. Slowly, the noises start to fade away, Jonathan's whispers get louder. "Clark, concentrate. Concentrate on my voice, son." "Dad!" Jonathan walks toward Clark. As he brushes past a table, a nail falls off, landing on the ground with a loud crash, at least to Clark. "Aaah!" he screams. "Clark?" "Aah!" he shouts, holding his ears. "Clark!" "Dad, it's ok, it's ok. For a second, I could hear you." Martha smiles at Jonathan. "That's great. I was barely whispering. Let's keep working." Clark nods, and Jonathan walks away, this time standing next to the door. "Focus, Clark. Focus on my voice. Can you hear me?" Jonathan Clark nods. "Good. Keep practicing." Jonathan heads out, pulling out the phone. "Where are you going," Martha asks. "I need to make a call," he says.

* * *

Lex pours a glass of whiskey while in his office. He takes a drink as Lionel comes in. "Lex? I'm sorry, son, I'm afraid I don't have much time. I have to be back in Metropolis within the hour. What did you want to talk to me about?" he asks. "When I came back to the mansion, after my episode, you welcomed me back with open arms." Lex recounted. "That's right." Lionel reaffirmed. "I should've known better than to take your promises at face value," Lex says, walking away from Lionel, his father following. "I don't understand, son. What are we talking about?" "Humiliation. Word's out that my new position at LuthorCorp will consist of a title and little else." "Oh, that's foolish, son. I've always wanted you to work with me. You know that." "To do what, sharpen pencils?" Lionel stiffens at this. Lex goes to the couch and sits down. "Lex, please. Listen to me." Lionel sits next to Lex. "If you thought you could throw me behind a desk and forget about me, you're making a grave mistake. Unless, of course, my source is wrong, which it never is." "It's true, Lex, I have been disappointed with your performance in the past, but that's nothing I haven't said to you." "And, evidently, to anyone who will listen. So I have to keep proving myself. Is that it?" Lionel chuckles, "Well, unfortunately, we have to prove ourselves every day. I've come to accept that, and in time, so will you. I hope. Lex, listen to me. If someone is trying to drive a wedge between us, someone we know, then that's betrayal, son. Who is this source of yours?" Lex shoots back, "Who were you talking to when you decided to trash me behind my back?" Lionel returns Lex's gaze steadily. The tension is cut as Lex's phone rings, and he opens it, keeping a cautious eye on his father, "I have to take this." Lex says as he leaves. "Hello? What?... Yeah, I'll be right over."  
"Dad, I'm really concerned about Pete," Clark tells his father. "We've looked everywhere." Jonathan turns off the engine and gets out of the truck. "Well, we're at the Talon, Clark. I thought maybe you and I could get an update, and don't worry, I called in back up. In fact, here it comes. I'll be right back, son." Just then, a familiar silver Porsche is parked in front of the Talon. Lex Luthor hops out of the car and gets in the truck. "thinking he's speaking to his dad, Clark states, "That was fast." "Hey, Clark." the billionaire speaks. "Lex? What are you doing here?" "You're dad called me up as back up for the search with Pete." "Sweet. Thanks, Lex," Clark said. "No problem, Clark." Just then, Clark hears the rattling of a tow truck. "Lex, there's the truck that took Pete." Lex looks around and sees a brown tow truck rattling as it slowly crawled down the street. They both get out of the pick-up and sneak on to the back of the slow-moving tow truck, and hop off as it pulls into a service station.

Pete is tied to a chair with a square of tape covering his mouth, inside the service station. Nathan parks the tow truck and gets out just as Pete succeeds in opening his mouth wide enough to get the tape to peel off. Clark and Lex are outside the service station when they hear Pete scream. "Help!" "Pete?" Clark yelled. "Can anybody hear me?" "Pete! Don't worry, I brought Lex as reinforcements." "Clark! Clark, help! Clark, help!" Nathan enters the room. "Shut up!" Nathan screams as he punches Pete across the face, knocking him unconscious, and walks out to deal with the intruders. Clark kicks open the door and feels his way into the room. "Pete, Pete? Where are you?" Lex splinters off to find Pete on his own. "Clark, I found him!" Lex shouted. Suddenly, Nathan appears out of nowhere and punches Lex into a pile of tires. Clark reaches out, touching everything he can, but doesn't find Pete or Lex. Nathan suddenly stands right behind him, holding a blow torch. He lights it, Clark immediately turning at the sound. Nathan knocks Clark's sunglasses off his face and waves the blow torch in front of Clark's face, shooting the flame straight into his eyes. "Aah! Ah!" Clark screams in pain, grabbing his eyes, backing away. "How's that, blind man?" Nathan turns off the blow torch and drops it. Then he grabs Pete and Lex, pulling them to their feet and out of the room. "Come on! Come on!" Clark, still covering his eyes, calls out to his friends, "Pete! Lex!" Clark removes his hands from his face and looks around. The darkness begins to give way to soft green light. Then it gets brighter as his sight begins to return, the room coming into focus. "Any improvement?" Jonathan asks. "There's a little, but still blurry," Clark replied. "Are your other abilities back?" Clark tries to shoot a fire blast into the fireplace, or look past the wall, to no avail. "Nope, still gone." "Well, son, the blow torch seems to have broken up the scar tissue, so it's only a matter of time until it's healed." "Pete and Lex are still out there." "Son, They could be anywhere, and you already told Sheriff Adams everything you know." "Well, I can't just sit here." Jonathan hesitantly looks to his wife, then back to Clark. "Well, if that's the road you decide to go down, we need to make a pit stop first." "Clark, come on out." Martha urges her son. Clark comes out of the office reluctantly, wearing a pair of prescription glasses. "Sweetie, they look fine." "Yeah?" "Yes." his mother reassures him. "Yeah. Now, what is your plan? How are you gonna find Pete?" Jonathan asks him. "The Masterson hearing is in an hour. We know he's trying to set up an exchange. If Mrs. Ross lets him go, I'll follow him." "Son, that is such a long shot." "It's all I've got."

* * *

That night, our favorite intrepid reporter pays a visit to a particular multi-billionaire business mogul. "Was there any result with the change? Hmm." Lionel asks someone on the other end. The assistant brings Chloe to the center of the room, then leaves. The door closes. Lionel continues to talk on the phone as if not noticing Chloe's presence. "Uh, all right. Do it again." he laughs. "How long will that take? All right. Call me when you're done." Lionel disconnects the call, still not acknowledging Chloe. "I guess this is the part where I'm supposed to cough suggestively? You know, I don't have any new information on Clark." Lionel glances at Chloe, taking his mug from the coffee table. "And even if I did, I would have happily e-mailed it to you sans three-hour drive." Lionel pours a cup of coffee. "Would that have been before or after you spoke to Lex?" "What are you talking about?" "You know, Ms. Sullivan, these coy evasions may work when your wheedling information out of a high school librarian, but up here, you're out of your league." Lionel sits on the couch. "Mr. Luthor, what's this about?" "We had what I assumed was a private conversation, but imagine my surprise to have Lex throw my very own words right back in my face. You led me to believe, Ms. Sullivan, that, uh, you were no longer in communication with Lex." "Well, I'm not. But thank you for the wildly offensive insinuation. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm on a deadline." Chloe starts to leave. "Not anymore. Your column at the Daily Planet's been canceled." Chloe, stopping in her tracks, turned and stared at the multi-billionaire. "What?" Lionel looks Chloe in the eye for a moment. "All right, all right. Here's the deal. You tell me everything you fed to Lex, and I'll let things stand." Chloe: I told you I'm not Lex's source. And while I'm sure you could kill my column, this is not the only piece I'm working on for the Daily Planet. I'm sure I could interest them in a story about an eccentric billionaire with an obsessive interest in a Kansas farm boy. Lionel looks up at Chloe from his seat on the couch dangerously. "You threatening me?" Lionel asks quietly. Chloe swallows. Lionel stands and comes closer to her. "I'd tread carefully, Miss Sullivan. Very carefully." Lionel walks past Chloe to the desk. "I'll be whatever I want. Apparently, I don't work for you anymore." Chloe turns and walks out of the office. When she gets outside the double doors, she stops and takes a nervous breath, wiping a hand across her brow.

* * *

The next day, at the courthouse, Judge Ross and Sheriff Adams discussed the threat hanging over the judge's head. "Judge, I've got people fanning out from that garage trying to find your son and Mr. Luthor, but we are running out of time." Abby stops walking and turns to Adams. "I know. Releasing Masterson goes against everything that I believe in as a judge. But if I don't, it could mean Lex and Pete's lives. Abby looks across the hall at Masterson, who is speaking with his lawyer. "Look at him. He knows he has us over a barrel." "What are you gonna do?" "Until the hearing starts, pray." Clark, standing in the background, heard the conversation and glances at Masterson, who is finishing his conversation with his lawyer. Masterson pulls out his cell phone and dials a number. Clark focuses his hearing on who Masterson is talking to. Nathan is at the other end of the line. "Hello?" "Nathan." "Talk to me." "Everything's set, if this judge is smart, I'll be out of here in 20 minutes." "Cool. Then it worked? So what do you want me to do next?" "As soon as I'm out, get rid of the Ross and Luthor kids. Then we'll meet as planned in Metropolis." "Done. They'll be a pile of junk in a minute." Clark stays long enough to see Masterson turn off his cell phone, then super speeds out of the courthouse.

Nathan standing over an old, battered car, looks down at Pete and Lex, lying half-conscious in the trunk. Nathan slams the car trunk closed and walks away from the vehicle. Clark super speeds to the garage and sees a sign that says: "Auto Wrecking." Nathan flips a switch on the wall that turns on a motor above the platform the car sits on. The compactor begins to lower. Nathan walks away from the press as Clark enters the maze of old cars parked in the field, looking around. "Pete! Lex!" Clark calls as he searches for his friends. He keeps searching until he sees Nathan. He jogs to Nathan's side, not recognizing him. "Hey, you work here?" Clark asks. "What the hell? What are you doing here, blind man?!" Clark, recognizing the voice, grabs Nathan by the jacket. "Where are they?" "In a minute, neither one of you will care." The compactor begins to crush the car. Nathan utters the piercing screech from his throat, forcing Clark to let him go, backing away and holding his ears. He backs up into a large pile of cars and rips his glasses from his eyes, covering his face. The car pile behind him starts to tilt, and Clark super speeds out of the way, leaving Nathan. Nathan screamed in terror and pain as he's crushed under the falling cars. It was at this point, Pete and Lex cry for help, having been woken up from the crash, "Can anyone hear us?! Help us! Help!" Clark takes a moment to figure out where their voices are coming from, then sees the compactor. The car's windows shatter as Clark super speeds to the platform, climbing onto it, holding the ceiling up, stopping it from lowering anymore. Eventually, the engine shorts out, and the compactor stops. Clark opens the trunk of the car. "Pete! Lex! Are you guys all right?" Pete and Lex smiled at his friend. Pete looks up at Clark for a moment, then drops his head in relief.

* * *

"And that's the way Lex and I pulled ourselves out of the compactor and got away," Pete said, regaling the tweaked events of his survival. "Oh, my God. That's the bravest thing I've ever heard." a girl said. "Well, you know, if we didn't do something fast, we'd be spam in a can, so ..." "Well, I'm glad you're doing well," she said, kissing Pete on the cheek. "Call me." "I will do that," Pete said, smiling to himself. Clark, standing next to the bar behind Pete, smiled to himself. "I have a feeling I'll be hearing this story for a long time." said the farmboy. Pete turns around on his seat, laughing. "Busted. But, you know, what can I say? Chicks dig a hero." "Uh-huh." "Hope you don't mind I'm bending the truth a little bit." "Pete, look who you're talking to. The master truth-bender. Besides, after everything you've done for me, it's the least I can do." Clark takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. "What's the matter?" "My eyes are just adjusting. I think I need a new prescription." Chloe walks up to them, dazed. She looks like she had been crying. "Hey." Chloe greeted them. "Hey, Chloe. I'm ready for my big Torch interview." "Sorry, Pete, I'm gonna have to reschedule," She turns to Clark. "I'm glad you're feeling better." Chloe turns to go, but Pete grabs her arm. "Chloe, what's the matter?" Chloe takes a deep breath, "I just lost my Daily Planet column." "What? Why?" Pete asks. "They didn't exactly spell it out on the pink slip. And in the "when it rains, it pours" category, my dad just got laid off from his job at LuthorCorp this morning." "That doesn't make any sense. Your father's worked there for years." Clark chimed in. "If you want answers, ask Lex. He's the one that dropped the ax." Clark looked confused.

Clark waited for Lex later that day in the study of the mansion. Lex enters as Clark stands up. "Hey, Lex, how are you?" "I'm all right, Clark. Did you need something?" "Yes, actually, I heard that you fired Chloe's dad today." "Yes, I did, and I had a valid reason for doing so." Clark looked toward the billionaire with an expectant look. "See, I've decided to start my own company, and Mr. Sullivan showed astounding performances in managerial positions at Luthorcorp. So I concocted a story to make his performance seem lackluster and had him fired. At that moment, I offered him the COO position at my new company, Lexcorp, named it after myself to distance myself from my father." He paused to let it sink in. "My father wants war? I'll give him a war." Lex said darkly. "And I have the best advantage of all... he thinks I'm weak. And we'll take him down together." Lex offers Clark a handshake, who smiles and accepts, "Man, Chloe's gonna be thrilled about this, although she'll still be upset about her Daily Planet column." "Oh, she doesn't have to worry about that if things go as projected, Lexcorp will own the Daily Planet in a matter of months. She'll be taken in as a reporter as soon as she graduates college." Clark hugs his friend, "Thank you, Lex, she'll be ecstatic when she hears about this."

**End of Chapter 2**

"Wait a moment, that's not right, I got Mr. Sullivan fired, and rendered him unable to get a job-" Lionel stopped as he looked to Blue, who winked in response, "What can I say? I felt bad for the guy, he deserved a happy story." Blue admitted. "Thank you, Blue. For fixing my mistake." Johnathan and Tess merely smiled at the sight before them. "No problem Lionel. But don't thank me yet, I have a feeling that's going to be a recurring event." Blue sighed. "Welp, on to the next one."


	3. Delete

** Episode 3: Deleted **

Late at night at the Daily Planet, the newsroom bustles, busy as ever. But over in the corner, there is a vacated desk with a Smallville High coffee mug that says "Go Crows," next to a nameplate that says "Chloe Sullivan, Columnist." Chloe is packing up her desk, for she had just gotten fired. She picks up the nameplate and takes a moment to look at it sadly, then puts it in a box with the rest of her stuff. She slings her purse over her shoulder, picks up the belongings, and starts to leave. Max Taylor appears in the doorway of his office and leans against the doorframe. 

"Not even a goodbye?" he asks her. Chloe turns to face him, sighing. "Come on in," Max says as he steps out of the way and motions for Chloe to enter his office. "Blacklisted before I even graduate. That's gotta be a record." Chloe says. "I don't know who you ticked off around here, but you sure ruffled some feathers." "I have enemies in high places." "Well, we're going to miss you," he says, walking behind the desk. "Yeah, right. You're just going to miss the free proofreader," she said as she sadly smiled. Just then, Max's secretary walks in. "Max, your wife's called three times about dinner." "All right, tell her I'm on my way," he told her as she leaves. "Seriously, if there's anything I can ever do..." "Actually, um, it's just a few stories I've been working on; I would love for you to take a look at them," Chloe says as she pulls a computer disk out of her pocket. "Chloe, I couldn't print your name in the classifieds right now without catching hell." "Well, what about a pseudonym?" She suggests as she leans over to write a name on a piece of paper before continuing, "She's my cousin. She won't mind at all. She's not interested in journalism." Chloe hands it to Max, and he smirks as he reads the name. "Lois Lane."

* * *

In a dark office space, a LuthorCorp screensaver bumps the corners on a computer screen. The dark office full of electronic equipment and other computers, the technical department of LuthorCorp. Lex enters, looking for the technical assistant. He finds nobody at the desk and turns to go, coming face to face with an attractive young woman grinning at him a little slyly. "Oh, sorry, I was looking for the, uh, on-call tech guy," Lex explained, startled a bit by the woman's sudden appearance. "Well, you found her." "You... you work in the tech department?" Lex asked, a bit surprised. "Would you rather have a Play Station addicted dork wearing a "Star Wars" T-shirt?" Lex smiles apologetically. Molly laughs and offers her hand. "Molly," she said, introducing herself. He took her hand and replied in kind, "Lex." They shake hands, each sizing the other up. "Well, what do you need, Lex?" she asked him. "Well, I'm trying to finish a presentation, my program keeps crashing, and I don't have the time to deal with it." "Probably a virus." "I would assume so." Molly smiles flirtatiously and turns her back to Lex, bends over the desk to look through a pile of disks. Lex briefly glances toward her backside, to which Molly raises an eyebrow mischievously, clearly aware of what he's doing. A few moments later, she finds the disk. "There we go... this should scan for any viruses." She walks towards Lex in a very flirtatious manner. "Are you a do-it-yourselfer, or do you need me to do it for you?" Lex takes the disk from her. "I think I can handle it," he tells her coyly as she slyly smiles at him. As he leaves, she goes back behind the desk, pulls out a bundle from a box, and places it on the desk. She unrolls the bundle revealing a set of tools, and she puts on her glasses. She goes to work, drilling on a partially dismantled hard drive that sits on the desk. She hooks up the hard drive to a monitor showing Smallville High's mascot with the name Chloe Sullivan across the bottom of the screen. Molly pulls out the drive's inner disk marked Property of Smallville High, and the screen goes black. 

* * *

It's after hours at Smallville High as Chloe enters the Torch office. The lights are on, yet all the computers are missing. "Welcome to the Torch. Unplugged." Pete tells her as she walks in. "Pete, what happened to my computers?" Chole asked, shocked at the sudden disappearance of her tech. "A bunch of deliverymen stopped by this afternoon. LuthorCorp took the computers back," he tells her. "But, he donated them," she countered. "Yeah, well, I guess the Grinch changed his mind. Oh yeah, some girl stopped by. Didn't leave a name," he tells her as he leaves, "Thanks, Pete," she says as she puts her purse down on the desk, looking around sadly. As Chloe leaves, she walks through the parking lot to her car and hears the engine of a vehicle loudly approaching in the street. A truck drives by and makes a sharp turn into the parking lot, squealing its tires on the asphalt. Chloe turns around, startled as the truck heads right for her, and stops in front of her. She stares into the headlights, bewildered, unable to see the driver's face. The truck inches forward threateningly a couple of times, then starts speeding towards her again. Chloe runs for her life, the truck speeding after her, plowing through a picnic table. She trips and falls to the ground in front of a Smallville High Crows van, whimpering as she braces for her demise. The truck mercilessly speeds over her but barely misses as it crashes into the side of the Crows van. Chloe, still under the killer truck, lifts her head and looks around in fear. She starts sliding from underneath just as the driver steps out, walking on the ground right in front of Chloe's face. She keeps crawling sideways until she can crane her neck up far enough to see who it is. It's Clark. He looks around, confused, then sees Chloe. "Chloe?" he asks in shock. 

_ ***SOMEBODY SAAAAAAAAAAVVVEEEE MEEE*** _

Inside the Smallville Medical Center, Sheriff Adams gives Clark a breathalyzer test. The breathalyzer beeps as she takes the straw from Clark's mouth to read the results. Chloe sits on an examination table as a doctor checks her for fractures. "The last thing I remember, I was in the library. I was working on my history paper." Clark explained to the sheriff. "Stone sober." she read, "Miss Sullivan, would you care to shed any light on Mr. Kent's version of the incident?" "What do you mean, the part where I wasn't eating pavement" she replied as the doctor finished and left. "I don't know, um... it just ... it looked like he lost control of his truck," she answered. Adams turns to Clark as she sighs, "Well, Mr. Kent, your family sure has its way of going through vehicles." Clark turns to Chloe, "Chloe..." he says in an imploring tone. "Is that all you need from Clark?" she asks Adams, cutting off Clark. "Why don't you go on home. I got a few more questions for our Ms. Sullivan," the sheriff tells Clark, turning to Chloe.

Clark leaves, stopping in the hallway to look at Chloe through the window. She glances at him warily, then looks away. Clark starts to walk down the hallway, and as he goes, he sees Adam and Lana coming out of a room. "Well, I'm glad you're feeling better, Adam," Lana says as she sees Clark. "Clark, are you okay? I just heard about the accident." "I'm okay, but Chloe's a bit scraped up," Clark responds as he and Adam look at each other awkwardly. "Um, Clark, this Adam," Lana says, introducing her friend. "Nice to finally meet you," Clark says as he offers his hand. Adam hesitates before shaking Clark's hand and responding, "So, you're Clark. I've heard a lot about you," "Didn't realize there was much to say," Clark responds before turning towards Lana and asking, "How'd you get here so quickly?" "I was just upstairs, visiting Adam. Physical therapy," she explained. "Isn't that where you two met?" Clark asked."Yeah, I thought I'd see you when you dropped by to visit Lana, but I guess you got busy," Adam answers, pushing Clark's buttons. "Looks like we've all been busy," Clark says. Just then, Lana's PDA beeps as she pulls it out and sees who it is. "Seems like ever since Lex gave me this thing, it's like no one can change a coffee filter on their own," Lana presses buttons on the PDA. Adam looks at Clark challengingly, and Clark lowers his eyes. Lana glances at them both, aware of the tension.

Lex enters the tech department and sees a man working. "Mr. Luthor," he greets, walking up to the billionaire. "Where's Molly?" Lex asks. "Uh, Molly?" the worker asks, confused. "Yeah, she was working here last night. She loaned me this," Lex says, pulling out the disk. "Ah, we've been looking for that. But we don't have a Molly. I was the one on-call last night... from home," the worker informs him. "She was here unpacking these computer boxes," Lex says as he points to a box, then notices that it's labeled "Smallville High." "Huh, well, that might explain how all those hard drives got wiped out," the worker says. Lex looks at the man, who shrugs apologetically.

* * *

The next day, Lana pours swirls of caramel onto a mountain of whipped cream in a coffee cup at the Talon, with Adam is sitting next to her. "There's a lot going on in that cup," he comments. "Well, it is your first time here, and I'm trying really hard to get the thumbs up," she tells him. Adam takes a sip and holds up his thumb in approval as Lana laughs. She picks up her own cup from the bar, and they walk to a table. "This place has really been a refuge for me," she starts. "Refuge from what?" he asks. "Oh, just everything." "It was interesting, meeting Clark." Lana pauses uncomfortably, then laughs. "We're just friends," she tells him. "Just friends," he repeats as they sit at the table. "Well, for friends, you're very uncomfortable around each other," he tells her. "Yeah, well, we've got a lot of history." "Mm. I saw the way he looked at you." Lana hesitates before speaking, "...Clark doesn't know what he wants. Besides, I can't control the way he feels. "And . . . you?" Adam asks. "Clark will always be an important part of my life, but whatever there was between us is gone," she admits. Adam nods, accepting her answer.

At the Kent Farm, the truck is parked inside the barn. Clark takes his school books and his laptop from the passenger seat and closes the door unhappily. The front end of the truck is completely smashed. Clark drops his books onto a nearby table as Chloe enters. "If you're looking for signs of tampering, I'll save you some time. There's nothing wrong with it. I asked the mechanic." Chloe informs him. "There's got to be some explanation." "As to why you tried to mow me over? I'm ready and waiting." "Didn't you tell the sheriff that I lost control of the truck?" "I was covering for you, Clark. You chased me onto the sidewalk," she says as she starts to break down and cry. "Now, I-I know that you're still upset with me about this whole Lionel thing, but don't you think that manslaughter is a little beyond an eye for an eye?" "Chloe, you don't think I tried to hurt you," "I don't know. But the way you've been acting lately... I don't know Clark, I can only apologize so many times!" she yells. Clark sighs, "I have been having a hard time getting over this. Every time I see you, I can't help picturing you and Lionel talking. You're not the same person you used to be." "Kinda like if I moved to Metropolis and became a motorcycle-riding party animal and told you to get out of my life. Kind of like that, right?" she fires back. Clark doesn't respond, taking Chloe's point. Chloe sighs, "Look, you know what? As much fun as this guilt trip is, I came here to see if you put any more pieces together from last night. What happened after the library?" "I don't even remember leaving the library. The last thing I do remember, I was working on my laptop," Clark said as Chloe walks to the table and opens Clark's laptop, turning it on. She types in the command "Search for recent documents." The search pulls up the paper Clark was working on. "Well, the computer recovered your paper. That's an interesting take on General Sherman." Clark looks at the computer screen. "I didn't even finish my sentence," Clark says, pushing another button, taking them to his e-mail box. The e-mail at the top of the list is from the address "brainwave@instamail.org." "It says I downloaded an e-mail before the accident," Clark says, clicking on it, and the screen says 'EMAIL IS LOCKED.' "It won't open." "Who's Brainwave?" Chloe asks. 

Molly is shown putting the inner disk from Chloe's hard drive into her computer, then another disk into the CD-ROM, and begins typing with a small smile on her face. 

* * *

Lana and Adam walk through the halls of Smallville High, with "Crows" banners hanging everywhere. "Remind me again what your school mascot is." Just then, a young man wearing a Crows jacket walks past them. "Oh, wait, it's a bird," Adam said sarcastically. "Okay, it's a small town. We take our school spirit very seriously," Lana laughs as she remembers she forgot something. "Oh, I, um, I forgot my history book. I'll meet you outside?" she asks. "Okay," he tells her, leaving as Lana walks back to her locker. 

Molly types on her computer, pulling up Chloe's e-mail, selecting Lana's name, and sending a message. Just then, Lana's portable digital assistant beeps. She pulls it out and turns it on, seeing that she has received a message from Brainwave. She opens it, and the screen fills with green flashing numbers and letters zooming around. The green code reflects on her eye, traveling inside her pupil, along her optic nerve as the electrical impulses travel to her brain. We zoom out to see her eye, which still reflects the green code of the e-mail. She blinks, the reflection gone, suddenly replaced with a cold and dangerous look, which then zeroes in on an unsuspecting Chloe, who is looking at the bulletin board. She slowly walks towards Chloe as the PDA drops to her feet. Chloe turns around.

"Lana, hey, I've been looking for you-" Chloe starts until she's interrupted by Lana grabbing her by the hair and slamming her head into the bulletin board. Still gripping her hair, Lana uses her other hand to grab Chloe's arm and whips her around, throwing her down a nearby flight of stairs. Several students gasp and scream as Chloe rolls down the stairs, stopping on the landing. Lana stalks down the stairs after her as Chloe gets to her feet, bleeding from her forehead and terrified. "Lana, what are you doing?" "Killing Chloe Sullivan," she replies, cold and calmly just before delivering a spin kick to Chloes back, sending her tumbling down the next flight of stairs, stopping on the second landing. Chloe scrambles to her feet as Lana follows her down. Lana kicks Chloe in the stomach, which slams Chloe up against the wall behind her. She then stumbles forward as Lana punches her in the face, causing her to trip and fall down the first few steps of the next flight of stairs and run into the railing. She turns around, holding it for balance. Lana grabs onto Chloe, and Chloe grabs onto Lana, shaking her back and forth, finally starting to fight back. Chloe whips Lana around so that Lana's back is to the stairs and punches Lana hard across the face, sending her over the railing and down the stairs. A group of students at the bottom of the stairs watches and screams in shock and confusion. When Lana gets to her feet, Chloe runs down the stairs and rams her shoulder into Lana's stomach, smashing her against the fire hose case on the wall. Lana knees her in the gut, then kicks her in the face, sending Chloe sprawling onto her back on the ground. Lana turns around and grabs a fire ax from the case, a trickle of blood coming from her nose. She swings the ax at Chloe, who rolls out of the way, the onlookers screaming and fleeing from the scene before them. Chloe gets up and jumps back, dodging a swing aimed at her midsection. Lana kicks her in the stomach, slamming her into the doors of the girls' locker room. Taking the opportunity, Lana swings at Chloe's head. Chloe tilts out of the way as the ax lodges in the door. Chloe takes a brief, terror-struck look at the ax before Lana kicks her again, causing the door to open as Chloe falls into the locker room as Lana pulls the ax out of the door. The room is full of girls standing at their lockers, changing their clothes, who all begin to scream and run. Chloe, who's still on the floor, backs away frantically as Lana swings at her, hitting the floor between Chloe's legs. She swings again, but Chloe catches her arms, lying back and kicking Lana in the stomach, sending her flipping over Chloe. A power struggle ensues, with neither of them letting go of the ax. They both pull on it as they stand up across from each other. Lana tugs on the ax, pulling Chloe to her side, then kicks her in the back. Chloe loses her grip on the ax as she slams into a row of lockers, then immediately ducks as Lana swings the ax at her, missing once again. Chloe straightens up as Lana does a spin kick to her stomach, which sends her backward into the showers. All the girls in the showers run away, leaving Chloe sitting against the wall as water pours down on her, soaking her hair and clothes. Lana pulls the ax out of the locker door and storms toward her, holding the ax above her head. Chloe looks at her friend turned murderer with fear in her eyes, helpless with nowhere else to run. Suddenly, a hand grabs onto the ax. Lana turns and sees that it's Adam. Never letting the ax go, Lana does a spin kick to Adam's stomach. "Aah!" he screams as he's sent backward. Lana tries to swing the ax at Adam, but he pulls out a high kick of his own, connecting with Lana's shoulder, causing her to drop the ax and stumble against the shower wall. Adam picks up the ax and spins around, kicking Lana in the stomach, holding his foot there, pinning her to the wall. She grabs his foot and twists it, sending his whole body into a spin as he falls to the ground. Chloe reaches out with her leg and kicks Lana in the back of the foot, tripping her. Lana falls onto her back, banging her head on the hard floor as blood pours from her nose. She opens her eyes, dazed as Adam and Chloe lean over her. "What happened?" Lana asks, breathless as Chloe stares at her in shock.

* * *

Chloe sips a cup of coffee in the Talon with a bandaged forehead. She looks around nervously as she talks to Clark and Adam. "So we can rule out paranoia. Someone is officially trying to kill me," she states. "Not just someone." Clark supplied. "Yeah, well, either way, it still doesn't look great for me," she says as Lana comes over with an ice pack. "Chloe, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I went after you like that," she says as she sits down and starts to put the ice pack against Chloe's forehead. Chloe takes the ice pack from her, avoiding Lana's touch. "Yeah, I can't believe you got us both suspended. Thankfully, Adam was there," she says, turning to the man in question, "Those were some really nice moves. What was that Kung Fu? Judo?" she asks him. He shrugs and says, "I don't know, I guess I've watched a few too many Jackie Chan movies." Clark and Lana both look at Adam a little disbelievingly. "Well, who would've thought it would come in handy in the treacherous halls of Smallville high?" Chloe states rhetorically. Clark takes a sip of coffee as a thought occurs to him before turning to Lana. "Just before this, did you get any weird e-mails?" he asked her. "Let me check" she pulls out her PDA and sees the Brainwave e-mail, "Yeah, I did, but I don't remember opening it." "It sounds like the same thing happened to both of us. Like we were being hypnotized." "It could be a subliminal message," Adam suggested. "Something could've been hidden in the binary codes," Chloe added. Lana hands the PDA to Clark, "Well, how did I get snapped out of it?" she asks. "Right now, I'm a little more concerned with what triggered the 'kill Chloe' impulse in the first place," Chloe says. Clark looks at the PDA as it alerts them of a new message. "It's Brainwave again," he says. They all look at each other nervously. Behind the Talon's bar, Adam types at the computer connected to Lana's PDA, while Clark, Chloe, and Lana watch him work. "Every computer online has an IP address, so we should be able to track the message and the computer that it was sent from," he informs them. "You can do that??" Clark asks with a suspicious tone. "We'll see," he tells him. "If this Brainwave person wanted me dead so badly, why didn't they just send me a message saying to off myself?" Chloe asks. "The brain's hardwired to stay alive. I mean, not even hypnotic messages can override our survival instinct." Adam tells her. Chloe is startled by Adam's knowledge of the subject. "What, did you just pick that up somewhere?" Clark asks him, suspicious of how he knew that. "I was in physical rehab for months. What else is there to do but read?" Adam responds snarkily. Lana looks strangely from Adam to the computer screen. A dialogue box pops up reading "computer registered to Chloe Sullivan, IP address registered to LuthorCorp." "Chloe, the message came from your computer," Clarks says. "I thought Lionel took back all of your computers. Why would anyone at LuthorCorp want to attack you?" Lana asks. Chloe and Clark look at each other, worried.

* * *

Lex and Clark talk on a sidewalk in Metropolis. Lex buys a newspaper from a Daily Planet dispenser, and they start walking side by side. "Look, I hate to think you wasted a trip to Metropolis, but I seriously doubt my father's trying to kill Chloe," Lex says. "Why? He was willing to put his own son in a mental institution. And he only stopped after you proved to him you were fine. You know what he's capable of." Clark said. "Clark, what reason would he have to go after a high school reporter from Smallville?" Lex asked him. "Remember when I was blinded for a while?" "Yeah, you developed super hearing," "Well, during that time, I found out Lionel was using Chloe to investigate me," Clark told him. "Clark, why didn't you say anything?! He could be trying to tie up loose ends. But don't worry, we'll find out who's behind this." "Also, we noticed a commonality with the attacks. They were all sent an e-mail from someone by the name of Brainwave. And they all came from Chloe's computer after it was packed up and shipped to LuthorCorp. Who else would have access?" They stop at Lex's limo. "Okay, I'll look into it from my end, and I'll bring you anything we can find." "Thank you, Lex," Clark says as he speeds off and Lex drives to Luthercorp.

* * *

Molly works on her computer as the elevator opens, and Dr. Garner steps out. Molly stands to greet him. "Dr. Garner. How are things at Summerholt? Is everything okay?" He sighs in response before replying. "No. I wish I could say it was. A reporter from the Daily Planet stopped by today." he said as he pulls a business card out of his pocket and hands it to Molly. "His name was Max Taylor." "About that horrible article that that girl wrote?" Molly asks. "Unfortunately. I just don't know what I'm gonna do if they shut me down," he grimaces, walking to the window in the living room and looking out at the city. "Think about all the people that I've helped. Where will they go?" "That's never going to happen," she assures him. "I don't know. I just can't seem to get them to leave us alone. How can I make them understand, Molly?" "You can't. They'll never understand." "I'm just glad I was able to help you so much." the doctor says as he rubs a gentle finger down Molly's cheek before continuing, "But if these reporters have their way, other patients may not be so lucky." Molly gains a determined expression in her eyes and returns to the computer room.

* * *

In the hospital, Adam is packing his bag when Lana walks in. "Are you leaving?" she asks him. "Paroled. Good behavior." he laughs. "So are you heading back to Metropolis?" she asks. "I was...sort of thinking about staying in Smallville," he tells her. "Why?" she asks in a surprised tone. "Okay, ow. That hurt." "No, no. I just meant, you know, after what I did at the school. Smallville just doesn't seem like the type of place you'd go to if you could...go anywhere." she explains to him. "Actually, it's about as close to a home as I have." Adams gets closer to Lana and holds her face. "I was hoping I could spend a little more time with a certain coffee shop owner who just happens to have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen." Lana lowers her face, "Adam, we don't really know each other." "Wasn't that the point of me staying? What's the problem? Hmm?" Lana turns around and walks away slowly, then stops and turns him with an exasperated expression. "No one knows martial arts without remembering where they learned it. Not even Chloe can hack a computer like you can. And if you got it all from reading, then where are the books?" "Wow. Clark must've really messed with your head," he comments. "Yeah, he did. And I'm not gonna let that happen again," she says defensively. Adam loses his patience, "Look, Lana, I like you, and I've told you that. But whatever your problems are, I'm not gonna stick around to be one of them." he pauses to let it sink in before continuing, "I think you should go." Lana can't respond and instead looks at him, donning a hurt expression on her face before leaving Adam's hospital room. 

* * *

That night, Chloe enters the Torch office and doesn't see Clark walking behind her. "Chloe." Chloe gasps as she turns around, startled. "Oh my God, Clark, don't sneak up on me like that!" "Look, I talked to Lex, and they found your old computer at LuthorCorp, but the hard drive is gone." Chloe groans before adding, "Including all of my e-mail addresses." "Well, we think this is who took it," Clark says, showing Chloe a surveillance picture of Molly. We suspect she may be working for Lionel. Her name's Molly-" "Griggs, yeah, I know. And for once, the connection isn't Lionel. I interviewed her for a story I did about a month ago." she interrupts and informs him. "About what?" he asks her. "Summerholt Neurological Institute," Chloe answers as she goes to her drawer and pulls out a file. "Summerholt? Isn't that where Ryan used to be?" "Yeah, to study his ESP. That's why I started looking into the place. Apparently, he isn't the only patient Dr. Garner held against their will." she says before handing Clark the file. Clark reads it over while responding, "Well, his methods are right out of the Mengele handbook. Why was Molly there?" he asked. "Uh, MIT recruited her at 15. She was a total engineer whiz kid until she went homicidal on another student. After her breakdown, they sent her to Summerholt." Chloe says. "Yeah, but Summerholt isn't exactly a psych ward." "Ah, but for megalo-brainiacs, it is," "Why would she want to kill you?" "Well, when I talked to her, she was pretty adamant that Dr. Garner had given her a new life. I had enough ammunition in that article to shut him down in a second." "Chloe, who else knows about this article?" Clark asks urgently, turning to face her. "Max." 

Max Taylor talks to Chloe on the phone in his office at the Daily Planet. "Chloe, I've been looking at your Summerholt story. I think you've got something here," he says before pausing. "...Wait, slow down threats are a part of the job. But I appreciate the heads up. You'll get used to it." Max's secretary, Maureen, enters the office, takes a pencil out of a stack, and sharpens it in the electric sharpener. Then she looks at the tip of the pencil, ensuring it's sharp enough. Max puts his hand over the phone and looks at Maureen over his shoulder. "You need something, Maureen?" he asks, as Maureen's face grows placid as she makes a violent thrusting motion. Chloe hears a sickening *SQUELCH* and a thump. "Max?" she asks. Max's arm falls limp to his side as the receiver hangs from its cord next to his chair. "Max?!" she asks again, before hearing Maureen begin to scream chillingly, "AAAAAAHH! Max! Help! Aaah! Max!" Maureen continues to scream and cry. Max's head is on his desk, the pencil sticking out of his ear as blood drips down his face, dead.

* * *

The next day, Lex, Chloe, and Clark enter Lex's study. "Thanks for letting Chloe stay here, Lex," Clark says. "No problem, whatever I can do to help," Lex says as he goes to the bar and pours a drink. "Yeah, this is the last place anybody would look for me." Chloe states. "Chloe, I'm sorry about what happened to your friend at the Daily Planet. You must've really had Garner over a barrel." Lex says. "Yeah, well, I obviously didn't know what I was getting myself into. Just seems to be a nasty habit that I've picked up lately," she says. Lex sits at his desk before speaking. "So your theory is that Garner has turned Molly into his own e-mail assassin, using hypnotic suggestion?" "It's not that far of a stretch. Summerholt goes from studying the brain to controlling it," Clark says. "It's a pretty amazing breakthrough, disregarding the application," "Well, there's no question. When it comes to brain warping, Dr. Garner is definitely the guy," Chloe said intensely. Lex looks at Chloe thoughtfully. "I'm gonna go talk to Garner," Clark says as he starts to leave, but Chloe grabs his arm. "No, no, Clark, don't, please. It's too dangerous," she urges him. "I'm not the one he's looking for. It'll be all right. Just don't leave the mansion. I'll call you if I find anything," Clark tells her as he leaves, and Lex gets up from his desk and faces Chloe. "Chloe, I have my tech guys trying to track her. I'm gonna go see what they've got. Make yourself at home." he tells her. Chloe nods as Lex leaves. She watches him go with tears in her eyes.

* * *

Clark walks in through Summerholt's front door into the large foyer. Dr. Garner is on his way out as he sees Clark and gives him a look of disgust. "Clark Kent," Clark says. "Here to abduct another one of my patients? I think you'll find security significantly increased since your last visit," Dr. Garner tells him. "I know what you and Molly are doing," Clarks says, confronting the doctor. "Molly..." Dr. Garner says, trying to place the name before continuing, "Griggs? She left us months ago." "She's sending out hypnotic e-mails. It's not the kind of technology you pick up at Radio Shack," Clark says accusingly. "Nor Summerholt if that's what you're implying," the doctor replies. He starts to leave just as Clark grabs his arm. "Molly's already killed one reporter who was about to expose everything you're doing here, and she's going after another. That's quite a coincidence," Clark says. "Mr. Kent, this is a serious research institute. I'm not going to involve Summerholt in some imaginary high school investigation," Dr. Garner says condescendingly. Clark steps forward threateningly and tells the doctor, "I don't think the police are going to see it that way." Two security guards walk up. "Dr. Garner?" one of them asks. "Cornell, could you show our friend to the door?" he asks, sending a glare towards Clark. Cornell puts a hand on Clark's shoulder and escorts him out the front door. Clark looks back long enough to see Dr. Garner take out his cell phone and dial a number, just before Cornell pushes him outside. Clark stays outside and looks in through the glass as Dr. Garner turns a corner down a hallway inside. Clark focuses his super hearing on Dr. Garner's phone call. The phone rings as a man picks up and says, "Centennial Tower Apartments. How may I direct your call?" "Apartment 927, please," Garner tells him. Another ring, and Molly answers. "Hello?" "Molly, something else has come up." Hearing all he needed, Clark walks away.

* * *

Lana is bussing tables at the Talon as Adam walks in. "Library," he says. Lana looks at him, confused. "That's where you'll find all the books I was reading," he tells her. "I thought you'd be on your way to Metropolis by now." She says while walking to the bar as Adam follows her. "I was, but I didn't want to leave things the way we did. I can be a little abrupt," he says. Lana puts her tray down on the bar. "That's one way of putting it," she says. Adam groans, frustrated, "You're driving me nuts! I can see how strong you are, and then for some stupid reason, you retreat into this hurt little girl facade. It's ridiculous." "This is your way of ending things on better terms?" she asks him. "People here don't say what they think. I wasn't trying to hide anything from you," he tells her. "Then why are you so guarded?" "You have to understand, there are patches of my life that I just can't piece back together." Lana nods in understanding and finishes the thought, "And everyone that could answer those questions is gone." "It's kind of scary. Smallville just seemed a little less terrifying than going to Metropolis on my own," he admits. Lana lowers her eyes, then looks back up at Adam, wearing a smile on his face. "Crazy ninja girls and all?" she asks. They both laugh. "Crazy ninja girls and all. I guess I just was moving a little too fast, so I'm sorry if I read something in our friendship that wasn't there," he tells her. "I think it was a little too early to tell what was there," "Yeah." They smile warmly at each other for a moment. Adam then checks his watch, "I'm gonna miss my bus." Adam gets his bag and starts to leave. He turns back to Lana and says, "Lana, I ... I really hope you find a way to trust people again. Because you're a really amazing person, and it'd be a shame not to let someone get close enough to see that." Adam smiles and starts to leave again. Looking agitated, Lana can't help but say something, "Adam, wait," She walks to him. "Were you serious about staying?" Adam smiles at Lana, and she looks into his eyes hopefully.

* * *

It's night time, and in her apartment, Molly brings a tray with a pot of coffee and two mugs into her living room where Lex is seated. "I'm starting to get a complex. It seems all the women I find even remotely appealing turn out to be psychopaths," he tells her. Molly laughs softly, setting the tray down on the coffee table and sitting in front of Lex. "Birds of a feather," she suggests. Lex leans forward and touches Molly's chin. "What did Garner do to you? Hmm?" Molly turns her head away. The elevator door opens, and Clark enters the apartment. Molly stands up. Clark, surprised, looks at Lex. "Oh, Lex, you found her." "Yeah, my tech guy traced her." Molly turns to Clark, "And you would be?" Clark sees the computer on the desk and points to it. "Is this what you're using to hurt my friends?" Clark walks to the desk, and Molly blocks his way. "Get away from that!" she yells at him. "Molly, you don't have to protect Garner. We know he's controlling you." "Look, there's only one person with that ability, and you're looking at her. Now get away from the computer!" Lex sighs and pulls his hand out of his coat, "You looking for this, Clark?" he says, holding up a disk. "How'd you get that?" Molly asks him. "Birds of a feather," he says, standing up. "It wasn't Garner. You're the one who developed the program, huh?" Lex questions her. Molly lunges for the disk, but Lex keeps it from her. "Clark heads up," Lex says as he turns and tosses the disk to Clark and then faces Molly. "I swiped it from your disk drive," he explains. "You don't understand. You don't know what it's like to be so different, to see things other kids can't see, to feel, and think about things they can't even imagine," she tells him. Clark holds the disk in front of Molly's face. "Molly, Garner's not helping you." "He made me feel normal, and I never thought that could happen. Now, if someone gave you that chance, wouldn't you protect them, too?" Clark and Lex don't answer, for they both knew that struggle all too well. Lex looks at the computer screen. "Clark, she sent an e-mail right before we got here. You recognize the address?" Clark looks at the address on the computer screen, and his eyes widen in horror as he reads it: CNH320(a)instamail.org. "Mom!" He looks at Lex, horrified. "Go, I'll take of things here," Lex tells him. "Nooooooo!!" Molly yells as Clark uses his speed to run back to the farm.

* * *

Chloe enters the loft and sees Martha standing next to a table. "Mrs. Kent? Mrs. Kent, I got your call." Martha turns around, smiling. "What did Clark find out?" Chloe asks. Martha grabs a sickle from the wall and walks toward Chloe threateningly. Chloe starts to back away and runs into Jonathan, who grabs her and pushes her against a support beam, and wraps a chain around her neck to hold her still. Chloe whimpers and struggles against the chain as Martha inches closer with the sickle raised above her head. Jonathan pulls the chain tighter around Chloe's neck. "Aah!" Chloe shouts. Martha continues to walk toward Chloe slowly with the sickle. Then Chloe kicks Martha in the face, causing her to drop the sickle and fall to the floor. Clark super speeds into the loft and pushes Jonathan away from Chloe, who falls to the floor gasping. "Chloe," he calls to her while Kneeling at her side. "You all right?" Chloe nods. Jonathan pulls a piece of kryptonite from his pocket, smiling sadistically. He stands up and comes toward Clark. "Clark, watch out!" she tries to warn him. Jonathan punches Clark across the face with the kryptonite, and Clark falls. Chloe stands up as Jonathan leans over Clark and punches him repeatedly. Chloe looks around for some way to help and notices stacks of hay bales on the upper floor of the loft. She runs to the wall and pulls a lever, causing the railing to fall away as the hay bales come crashing down on top of Clark and Jonathan. The kryptonite rolls away, its green glow going dim. Clark throws a bale of hay off of himself as Chloe sighs, relieved he's all right. "Mom?" Clark asks as he sees Martha is getting up from the ground. Clark throws another bale of hay off of Jonathan and goes to his mother. "What happened?" she asks. "You okay?" Clark asks her. Martha looks at Clark in confusion as Jonathan sits up, coughing. Clark looks at Chloe, who is still shaken.

* * *

Inside the Talon, Lana leads Adam up the stairs on the side of the main room. She stops when she gets to the top and turns to him. " Okay, just keep an open mind," she tells him. Adam nods and gestures for Lana to keep going. She turns to the door and unlocks it. They enter, and Lana turns on a light revealing a dusty crowded storage room filled with boxes, furniture, and an old movie reel. Dusty sunlight filters in through the windows. "So? What do you think?" Lana asks. "I think...Norman Bates would be right at home here." Adam tells her. "Not exactly the tenant I had in mind," Lana tells him. "Is that an offer?" he asks her. "If we clear out all this junk and paint, it could be a really cool space. I negotiated a good deal on the rent with the owner." She says as she turns on another lamp next to a stained glass window and Adam looks around. "Well, I guess an upside would be I wouldn't need an alarm clock." Lana looks at him, confused. "The smell of fresh coffee would wake me up in the morning," he tells her. "Yeah, unless you're making it. If you stick around long enough, I might just put you to work," she tells him, smiling. Adam smiles, then steps closer to Lana. "I appreciate you doing this for me, but I don't want you to do it because you feel sorry for me." "No. No, that's not what this is about. Trust me. I'm just trying to help out a friend," she tells him. Adam looks at her warily for a moment, then smiles and nods.

* * *

In the Torch office, Chloe is powering up a new set of computers as Clark enters. "New computers?" he asks. "Same old computers. New Luthor. Lex returned them to me, no strings attached." she tells him. "It's great that you're up and running again," Clark says. "Sans cyberstalker," Chloe added, as she laughs. "Your soul is still intact," Clark says. "Yeah..." She says, taking time to study Clark's expression. "You know, all this stuff with Molly...there's just ... there's a part of me that feels like maybe I deserve it," she tells him. "No, Chloe..." "No, like it was my penance, you know, for what I did to you," Chloe says as she sits on her desk. Clark sighs as he puts down his backpack, sitting on the other desk across from Chloe. "You can't take all the blame. You only went to Lionel because I pushed you away. It seems to be one of my hidden talents lately." Clark says apologetically. Chloe laughs a little, "It's not so hidden." Clark smiles sheepishly. "You know, I never set out to investigate you, Clark. It just ... it was so flattering that someone like that would be interested in my work," she tells him. "It made you feel like you mattered." he finished. "Yeah. And then Lionel set my dream out right in front of me, and I just..." she pauses as she starts to cry. "I don't know, I gave in to all my worst instincts." "No, Chloe, he caught you at a weak moment, and we all have them," Clark says in an attempt to console her. Chloe nods and he continues "When you found me at mine in Metropolis, you didn't turn your back on me. You gave me a second chance, and I at least owe you the same." Chloe smiles gratefully, "I'd like that." She wipes her eyes. "So what do we do now? I mean, we can't just forget about everything that's happened." Clark thinks for a moment, then stands up to sit next to Chloe. "Well, you have to understand that there are some things about me that'll never add up." Chloe laughs. "I know that." "Are you willing to stop digging?" he asks her. Chloe pauses and takes a breath. "Yeah. I mean, I figure you'll just tell me when you think it's right." Clark smiles. "I'll see you tomorrow Chloe," he tells her. "Okay." Chloe smiles as she watches Clark hopefully as he leaves.

* * *

That night Lex leans against his car next to a fountain outside Summerholt Neurological Institute as Dr. Garner comes out of the building. "Mr. Luthor. I should've known when young Clark stopped by that you wouldn't be far behind." the doctor said. "I'm feeling generous today, so I'll give you a warning. Any more attempts on Chloe Sullivan's life would be...ill-advised." Lex tells him. "Molly seems to have vanished into thin air. I don't suppose you'd know anything about that," Garner asked. "Molly's in the care of people who should be able to help her, not exploit her," Lex tells him. "Lex, you're a smart man. You know that the line has to be bent now and then to make progress." Garner explains. Garner starts to walk away and stops when Lex speaks. "I believe there's a difference between bent and broken." "You've never been so close to making a discovery that you'd be willing to do almost anything to see it through? My work could change that the world views intelligence. Thought." Lex thinks backs to that fateful day of the car crash and how he almost broke his friendship in the pursuit of the truth he thought was so important. "I don't think your research is worth the cost of innocent lives," Lex tells the doctor. "And I don't think I have time for a morality lesson. Excuse me." Garner starts to walk away again when Lex stops him. "I'm serious when I say this: you're dealing with something beyond your control. Let it go." He tells the doctor. "Oh, and if I ever find you doing this sort of thing again, you'll regret not heeding my warning." Lex gets in his car and drives away, leaving the doctor.

**Chapter 3 End**


End file.
